1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a maintenance method maintaining a fluid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
An ink jet printer typically performs a printing operation by discharging or ejecting ink droplets from nozzles toward a surface of a sheet of paper. In ink jet printers, printing errors may occur as thickened ink adheres to nozzle openings as the solvent in the ink gradually evaporates or as pressure changes are generated in ink chambers by bubbles trapped in the ink chambers.
In order to consistently discharge ink droplets, various techniques for maintenance processes have been suggested, such as those described in Japanese Patent Application No. JP-A-2007-136989, Japanese Patent Application No. JP-A-59-131464, and the like. In the process described in JP-A-2007-136989, a negative pressure is generated by a pump when the nozzles are temporarily sealed with a cap. A pressure is applied to ink chambers using pressure generating elements, causing the nozzles to idly discharge ink droplets, thus performing a flushing process where thickened ink and/or bubbles are removed.
One problem with this process, however, is that even when the above maintenance process has been performed, it is difficult to generate a force that is sufficient to flush small, micro-diameter bubbles, such as those having a diameter of several tens μm, so it is difficult to completely remove any bubbles in the ink chambers.
These difficulties apply not only to ink jet printers but also to fluid ejecting apparatuses that eject fluid other than ink, including liquid and liquid materials formed of particles dispersed in a functional material. The above problem has not been addressed sufficiently.